Ralph Owen Slatyer, (born April 16, 1929, Melbourne, Australia—died July 26, 2012, Canberra, Australia) Australian agricultural scientist and academic who was one of his country’s most eminent environmental scientists and government advisers, particularly as Australia’s ambassador to UNESCO (1978–81), chairman of the World Heritage Committee (1981–83), and the first such adviser to be designated chief scientist (1989–92) by the prime minister. Slatyer’s most significant research involved environmental plant physiology, agroclimatological and ecoclimatological models, and plant-water relations, notably in rural northern Australia, where intraseasonal water stress was deemed to be a serious problem. Slatyer grew up in Perth, and after attending prep school he studied agriculture at the University of Western Australia (B.Sc., 1951; M.Sc., 1955; D.Sc., 1960). In 1951 he took a post with the Division of Land Research at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. He later held several other advisory posts and served as professor (1967–92) and director (1984–89) of the Research School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra. Slatyer was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1982 and was elevated to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1993.

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